McNeese ranked a ‘tier one’ university by U.S. News & World Report

September 10, 2013 at 8:31 PM CDT - Updated July 11 at 6:46 AM

(Source: McNeese State University)

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - McNeese State University officials say that for the second consecutive year, the university is ranked in "Tier One" in the Best Regional Universities-South category in the 2014 edition of "America's Best Colleges," published by U.S. News & World Report.

In a news release from McNeese, officials said the university was one of only two Louisiana public universities in the top tier ranking of the annual publication. It was released Tuesday.

Officials said McNeese also ranked in the top 50 among the top public schools in the southern region.

"The rankings for the 621 public and private regional universities are based on information collected from several sources and weigh a number of factors including acceptance rates, retention and graduation rates, student/faculty ratio, alumni giving and a peer assessment score," the release states.

"McNeese has received a lot of national attention lately and I cannot think of a better way to launch our 2014 year-long 75th anniversary celebration," Dr. Philip Williams, McNeese president, said.

Williams said the spring announcement that Adam Johnson, a 1996 graduate of the Master of Fine Arts in creative writing program who won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, may have contributed to the MFA program moving up to No. 22 nationally.

"McNeese is also recognized nationally as one of the top public institutions for offering affordable tuition and high average salary earnings for its graduates," Williams said.

Officials said McNeese is one of two universities in the nation offering courses in the Innovation Engineering Management System that teaches students in all majors how to be flexible and adapt to changing business environments. The recently opened SEED Center is home to the university's student business and idea incubator and high-tech interactive Innovation Lab.